My name is Kat and I am a senior at HPU. I studied abroad for my last semester. I left Hawai'i on December 25th and arrived in Madrid on December 27th. The reason I went so early was because I wanted to get situated, figure out how to metro works, get a phone plan, etc. I found out later that most students arrived right before classes started around January 5th-10th. Either way, arriving early meant I was going to be spending New Years in Spain. I learned about the Spanish tradition where you eat 12 grapes at midnight on New Years Eve to receive good luck the following year.
New Years Pic
I spent New Years day at Parque del Retiro, which was about a 20 minute walk from my apartment. The park is huge and there is a lot to explore.
Park pic
I remember being in awe at all the beautiful art and architecture when I walked around the city. I took a lot of pictures and really appreciated the new environment.
I was still feeling pretty nervous at this point since I had never left the country before and I didn't speak a lot of Spanish. I was really lucky that my brother moved with me to Madrid since he was able to transfer for work. It was a lot easier to figure things out with someone rather than having to figure everything out by myself. I tried to take it one day at a time and have little goals and things to look forward to every day. For example, I would look forward to having a morning coffee or a good breakfast. I would also make sure to call my boyfriend, family, friends, etc. pretty often so I could still feel connected to my support system.
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